Environmental Quality Along the American River The 1996 Report of the Council on Environmental Quality Title of Chapter ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Along the American River Printed on Recycled Paper ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY i This report will be available on the White House web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/CEQ). TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments.......................................................v Message from the President ..............................................vii Message From the Chair.................................................ix Letter of Transmittal ...................................................xiii Part I - The National Environmental Policy Act NEPA and the Integration of Economic, Environmental, and Social Goals .....3 Selected NEPA Cases in 1996 ........................................19 Part II - Along the American River Chapter One - Along the American River ...............................29 Chapter Two - Charting New Waters ...................................63 Chapter Three - Headwaters ..........................................83 Chapter Four - The Rural River ......................................117 Chapter Five - The Urban River ......................................147 Chapter Six - River’s End ...........................................187 Part III - Environmental Data and Trends Appendices - NEPA Statistical Tables and Environmental Statistics Programs Managed by Agencies of the U.S. Government iii Title of Chapter ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Under the direction of CEQ Chair Kathleen McGinty, former Chief of Staff Shelley Fidler, and Chief of Staff Wesley Warren, this 1996 edition of Environ- mental Quality was prepared by Robert Livernash, who served as the primary author of the Part II chapters entitled Along the American River. Carroll Curtis coordinat- ed data collection and prepared the figures and tables. Ray Clark of CEQ drafted the chapter on the National Environmental Policy Act. Nancy Carson provided edi- torial assistance, and Carolyn Mosley provided administrative support. At the White House Publishing Branch, Bill McIntosh coordinated the prepa- ration of the manuscript for printing, and Tina Robertson did the design and desk- topping. The cover design was created by Antonia Walker. Within the federal government, many individuals assisted in reviewing the chapters. At the Department of Interior, we wish to particularly thank Deputy Assis- tant Secretary for Policy Brooks Yeager, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Mark Schaefer, Harvey Doerksen and his colleagues in the Office of Pol- icy, and Tim Smith and Gail Wendt at the U.S. Geological Survey. At the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency, Janet Pawlukiewicz of the Office of Water spent many hours coordinating the review process. Patricia Durana of the Natural Resources Conservation Service made many valuable comments and suggestions. We also are grateful to Bill Archambault, Ramona Schreiber and David John- son of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Gen. Gerry Gal- loway of the National Defense University; Penelope Firth of the National Science Foundation; Mary McLeod of the Department of State; Edith Brashares of the Trea- sury Department; Camille Mittelholtz of the Department of Transportation; Eileen O’Brien of the Department of Justice; and the Army Corps of Engineers. Within the White House, we wish to thank Don Pryor of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Gillian Foster of the Office of Management and Bud- get. At CEQ, many individuals reviewed chapters or provided suggestions. We are particularly grateful for the contributions made by Dinah Bear, who conceived of the original idea for the Along the American River section. Outside the federal government, many individuals provided materials and reviewed relevant sections of the report. We wish to thank Laurene von Klan of Friends of the Chicago River; Phillippe Boissonneault of the Portland Water Dis- trict in Portland, Maine; Alan Clark and Greg Thorpe of the North Carolina ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY v Title of Chapter Department of Environment and Natural Resources; David Trimble of the Flori- da Department of Environmental Protection; Robert Dumke of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Dan Baudouin of the Providence Foundation; Arthur P. Ziegler of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation; Andrea Rex of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority; Pam Drum of the Tahoe Region- al Planning Agency; Malcolm Green of Greenville Utilities, North Carolina; and Jane Kapler Smith of the Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project. vi ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Title of Chapter TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES I am pleased to transmit to the Congress the 1996 Annual Report on Envi- ronmental Quality. This edition of Environmental Quality, entitled Along the American River, cel- ebrates our rich natural heritage and the many efforts underway to preserve and restore it. A nation’s destiny is bound intimately to its natural endowment—its coasts, its mountains, its forests and, of course, its rivers. We can trace our very history along our rivers. They gave rise to our great cities, they nourish our farms, and they connect our communities one to another. How we care for our rivers—indeed, how we care for all that nature has bestowed upon us—determines the legacy we leave future generations. In times past our rivers suffered, but today they are being born anew. Across the country, communities are reconnecting with their rivers, restoring them to health, and discovering fresh economic opportunity in their renewal. This river renaissance exemplifies a new spirit taking hold in America—a recognition that a strong economy and a healthy environment go hand in hand. I am proud of all that my Administration has done to encourage and support these efforts. I’m especially proud of our American Heritage Rivers Initiative, which helps communities restore their rivers and riverfronts, and our Clean Water Action Plan, which provides new tools and resources to clean our rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. Americans want a clean, healthy environment and are willing to work hard to achieve that end. We can all take pride in our many accomplishments, even as we dedicate ourselves to meeting the challenges still ahead. I invite you to join me on this river journey, celebrating our past, and chart- ing a new course for our future. THE WHITE HOUSE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY vii Title of Chapter STATEMENT FROM THE CHAIR Something remarkable is happening along California’s Napa River. Twenty-seven times in the last 150 years, the Napa has spilled its banks, flood- ing homes and businesses in the heart of California’s scenic wine country. Millions were spent over the years trying to tame the river by dredging it, straightening it, hemming it in with levees and lining it with concrete. And when those efforts failed, millions more were spent repairing the damage and rebuilding flooded homes—again, in harm’s way. Finally, the people of Napa decided they’d had enough. Rejecting proposals to pour yet more concrete, the town’s voters instead chose to set the river free. They approved a plan to tear down some of the levees and rip out some of the concrete. Historic floodplain will be recreated so once again the river has room to meander. Some homes and families will be moved to higher ground. The people of Napa have decided to live with their river, instead of try- ing fruitlessly to rein it in. “For over a century, we have fought a losing battle against the Napa River,” town leaders wrote to voters. “We have failed because we didn’t respect the river’s natural tendencies.” Now they do. And in the future, when the rains pour down and the river swells, Napa stands a better chance of staying dry. This story of a town and its river is the story of America 30 years after the birth of the modern environmental movement. In redefining its relationship with nature, Napa exemplifies a new model of environmental decision making—one this Administration is working hard to promote. Napa’s voters were not willing to choose between their economy and their environment—they wanted to preserve both. They made that decision as a community, working together. They had the courage to break with convention, and rediscover the wisdom of nature. And in so doing, they helped inspire new thinking in other communities, and within gov- ernment agencies. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency that will help Napa protect itself by letting the river run free, is now aggressively pursuing alternative approaches to flood control elsewhere around the country. There is an important sidelight to this story that to me is particularly gratify- ing—the role played by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). By requir- ing thorough analysis of the earlier, more traditional flood control proposals for the ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ix Title of Chapter Napa—and by providing the community another avenue for real input—NEPA helped bring about consensus on what turned out to be a better approach. By call- ing on us to think before acting, to explore all feasible alternatives, and to lay that information before the public, NEPA put the people of Napa in a position to do right by themselves, and by the environment. NEPA is much more than a law requiring thorough, objective studies. It is the foundation of federal environmental policy making. And it is a visionary statement of the importance of integrating environmental protection into all that we do. Indeed, long before we spoke of “holistic” approaches